Tomboy
by midnightrider.009
Summary: Ruth. The most boyish girl you will ever meet. So, of course, she MUST run into Aoi. Aoi takes an immediate interest in her, seeing as she saw straight through his disguise, almost revealing him as a boy! What does he do? Blackmail her to be his side model! What's a girl to do with rivals, cross-dressers, and chocolate cake? Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Tomboy

Chapter One

Great.

Just freakin' great.

"So, mother…" I said calmly, hands folded in my lap, "Am I correct in assuming you are sending me to Japan?"

She nodded like the lady she was, "Yes, daughter, you are. There is a very nice school there that cold enhance your cultural abilities, I thought,"

I nodded as well, taking it in, "Very well then. One objection…"

"Yes, dear?"

"WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU NOT TELL ME TILL WE WERE ON THE PLANE?!"

I sighed, pouting in the fine leather seats that the first-class provided. Stupid mom. Stupid world. Stupid Japan! Why did I have to leave my perfectly fine home for sakura trees and kimonos?

"This is a photo of the school uniform, Ruth, look at me when I'm speaking to you. Ruth!" My mother, as in the one who gave birth to me, as in the one who had shown me affection and kindness my entire life, as in the one who had recently betrayed my wavering trust, showed me a picture of a short blue skirt with a blue and white sailor top. I gagged.

"Oh woman who gave birth to me," I said loudly, "You honestly expect your loving daughter to wear this?"

She nodded.

I sat down, self-consciously observing my basketball jersey, basketball shorts, converse, backwards hat, and sun-tanned skin. Parents were so naïve sometimes…

"I will not wear that,"

She sighed, leaning back into her seat, "Technically you don't have to. The school recently released a casual dress rule that lets the students wear what they want. Most still wear the uniform, though. It'd make me happy…"

Puppy face attempt fail.

I felt the slightest bit relieved, considering that I could still wear clothes that were a bit un-restricting.

"Attention," The pilot said over the intercom, "We will be landing in Japan shortly,"

Later on that day….

I had already been packed into my new apartment, so I decided to live out the town. A.k.a., see if there were any sports parks nearby. As you may have noticed, I lived and breathed sports. Martial arts, basketball, baseball, you name it. But martial arts were my specialty.

You see, I was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Kinda impressive.

I fingered my short, dark red hair as I looked at the shops. Let's see, boutique, boutique, boutique…a lot of boutiques….

"Misa-chaaaaaan," I heard a voice whine, "Could you take another shift for me?"

The 'Misa' voice spoke, "I would be glad to, manager. Leave it to me!" I looked to see two girls talking outside of a maid café. I read about these. Normally they seemed like the type of places that perverts would go to, but this one seemed kind of refreshing. I was hungry. So I took appropriate action.

I entered through the door, immediately greeted by "Hello, mistress. Please take a seat," A light-browned haired woman sat me down at a table, handing me a menu, "Tell me when you want to order!" the she hurriedly walked off.

Man this place moved fast.

I looked around. Most of the customers were guys. No duh there. I kept observing until I felt a hand tap my shoulder.

Turning around, I was met with a _very_ close pair of dark blue eyes, observing my face.

"You have such potential to be cute, why do you dress like a man?"

The eyes pulled back.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Speak for yourself," I said.

He seemed shocked that I said that, nervously giggling and putting a finger to his bottom lip.

"W-Why would you say that to Aoi-chan?" He asked in a fake girly voice. I smirked, leaning in confidentially.

"I won't say it out loud since I get the fact that this is a secret, but it's pretty obvious to me that you're a boy,"

I pulled back, enjoying the shocked look on his face. But, in truth, he was pretty enough to be a beautiful girl. I just had an eye for these things.

He suddenly smirked, sitting down next to me.

"So~," He drawled out, cupping his chin in his hand, "You are a very interesting girl. What's your name?"

"Ruth," I answered. Couldn't this creep leave me alone? I didn't want to be stalked on my first day in Japan…

"Last name?"

"Like hell I'll give that to you," I said, glaring at him. He glared back, looking the other way, dissatisfied.

"Tch. Not cute at all, you're supposed to say "U-Um, it's so-and-so, what's yours?' You see?" He acted out the scene with a voice even higher than his already-fake one. I tried not to laugh, oh so very hard.

"Right. Because that would be totally normal for me to do," I used heavy sarcasm, if you didn't notice. At his persistent look, I sighed.

"Fine, it's so-and-so. Happy?"

"The joke was unnecessary,"

"Wrong. It was completely necessary,"

Aoi looked puzzled for a moment, then snapped his fingers repeatedly, like he was trying to remember something.

"Ruth, Ruth, Ruth…where have I heard that name before? Right! You're the new student in my school!" Aoi pointed at me.

I deadpanned. His school! I had to go to school with this creep?

"Ugh, mom," I said, hanging my head, "What did you get me into?"

The next day…

"Class, this is your new student, Ruth…er…it just says Ruth," The teacher looked at me for guidance. I kept my gaze forwards.

"When my mom and dad were divorced, they gave me three choices, his last name, hers, or I could invent my own. I still haven't come up with one yet," I said seriously, not looking at anyone. All I wanted to do was play some basketball and get the hell out of here.

"Uh…right…uh…well, class, this is uh…Ruth!" The teacher said awkwardly. As I went to my desk I heard him mutter, "Americans and their customs,"

"What is this, a manga or something?" I heard a familiar (do I really have to say who it is?) voice behind me. Turning, I came face to face with Aoi.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do I have to sit directly behind you? Now your big head will get in the way!" Aoi pouted. It took me a while to process that he had boy's clothes on. Boy's shirt, boy's pants, boy's hair…

Holy crap.

Pretty boy.

"Bwah…uh…yeah," Was my intelligent response, "Wait…didn't you just say I was cute when we first met? Now my head is mysteriously big," I rose an eyebrow at him.

Aoi scoffed, leaning back in his seat, "Beauty all depends on how you act,"

"So….I acted like my head was big?"

"You don't get it,"

Aoi frowned at me, making his creepy thinking face again, "Actually…" He started. I held my hand up, shushing him.

"By the tone of 'Actually…' I can tell something really bad will happen. Leave me out of it,"

Aoi chuckled darkly, looking me straight in the eyes without tilting up his head.

Just. Freakin. Picture. It.

"Actually….A new model wouldn't be so bad,"

"No!"

"Come on, just tell me!"

"No! Creepy stalker!"

"I am not a stalker!"

"You have been following me for the past twenty minutes! I wouldn't have to take so long to get to my house if it weren't for you!"

Aoi puffed out his cheeks and sped up, catching my wrist, "Look, just tell me where you live, alright? All I want to do is see if you would be good enough for a new model, you could wear the best dresses-"

I frowned at him, "Haven't you got the message? I _hate_ girl's clothing!"

Aoi froze, looking up at me, then slowly letting go of my wrist.

"Who….what kind of girl….." he muttered.

I held back a scoff, turning away from him.

"I hate dresses, I hate skirts, I hate heels, all of that," I turned back to Aoi, who still looked shocked, "So please, don't try and get me into them,"

Aoi looked back at me, his face slowly turning into one of understanding.

"Oh….okay,"

He turned away, slowly trudging back. I didn't feel the least bit guilty, now I was finally free of my personal stalker.

The next morning was a perfect one. Birds chirped, I had slept great, and the sunlight streamed through the windows, like it promised me personally that nothing would go wrong.

"What a nice day," I said to myself. I remembered I had school in an hour. I walked to my closet, opening the doors. _I think I'll wear my black shorts today…_I thought to myself, _Along with my white hood- No. Aw hell no._

This was a serious offense. Nobody does this to me.

Inside, my closet was stuffed to the brim with pink, purple, blue, black, and every other color dresses you could imagine. Gone were all of my hoodies, shorts, and the rest of my clothes, and there were the dresses, skirts, and other things, just hanging there, waiting to be worn. On the floor was a note, with perfect, neat handwriting on it:

_**Dear Ruth (You really need a last name,)**_

_I'm going to tell you now that I don't give up. You will be my model. Don't worry; I haven't burnt all of your hideous clothing….yet. Come to my house after school; wear the purple dress. We'll talk about modeling there, unless you don't want me to toss your oh-so-precious (ugh) basketball shorts into that very tempting fire._

_With lots and lots of success,_

_Aoi_

_P.S. Here's the address-_

And after that I didn't bother to read any more. In fact, I crumpled the note in my rage. I should report him! He stole my things and is blackmailing me! I thought to myself, But wait, would the police really believe that a random guy in my class switched out my entire wardrobe just so I could be his model partner?

Ugh.

I don't like that kid.

At school…

I trudged my gloomy way to school, sporting Aoi's infamous 'purple dress'. It looked positively lovely (shudder) with its magnificent black ruffles, leaning up to a waterfall-effect kind of purple top. He even had sewn a pendant in the center, a gigantic, sparkly, R.

_For revenge?_ I guessed._ Yeah, that's it_.

There it was. The school gates were in front of me. I cautiously stuck my foot through the gateway, wincing all the time.

"Oh, so you did show your face here~" The dreaded voice of all hell and hatred rose up from the side. I turned my head, glaring at Aoi.

"Not like I had a choice, I can still show up for school, so I have to,"

Aoi smirked and walked closer to me, grabbing my hand and yanking me inside. I stumbled in the heels (yes, he got my shoes too,) then settled for glaring at him.

Again.

"So, have any…closet problems?" He asked. Oh ho ho, he didn't know what he was getting into. Just look a little lower Aoi, and see my shaking _fist_…

"How'd you guess?" I said. Aoi laughed loudly and pinched my cheek, smirking.

"See me at my house after school!"

I fuckin hate this guy.

After school. As in, the time when I must face the beast that has tormented me in so many ways.

Yes. He shall pay.

I'll get him. And his little dress too.

"Ruth!" Aoi called, waving his hand over. As I slowly marched, I was already coming up with a counterattack plan. He wouldn't get away unharmed.

"Do I really have to do this?" I asked. Aoi ignored me and started walking back to his front door. Yes. I actually had come to his house, where I found his patiently waiting in his yard, all nonchalant. The bastard.

"Now come on in, my dad's not home and mom's at work still. I already have the dress out for you,"

I put on a deadpan face, "Why can't I just wear the one I have on now?"

Aoi looked at me like I was the stupidest, dumbest thing on earth, "Really? You needed to wear that just to look respectfully presentable while walking around town. _This_ is where you start dressing up," And with that he stepped inside, shutting the door like he knew I'd come after him anyways.

Just a little longer… I thought to myself as I walked through the house, And you won't have to deal with this anymore,"

His house wasn't that big, or grand. Kinda, weird, considering that I always pictured him living in a Harlequin-checkered floored mansion, colorful boas and beads and the like string throughout.

Yeah, I really need to stop with that five hour energy.

"I'm up here, Ruth," Aoi called, motioning me up to his room. I hopped up the stairs, then went through his door.

Ah. Now I see where I got that idea from.

So, his house was normal. It was his room that matched my imagination. Yep, boas, checkers, reds and greens and blues all around. So I wasn't wrong.

"Wow, your room is very…"

"Don't say it,"

"…Original,"

"And yet she says it,"

Aoi walked to his closet, throwing open the doors and revealing even more of the dresses, skirts, blouses, etc. Almost in a habitual fashion, he rifled through all the clothing, landing upon a royal blue dress, adorned with pearls at the top and ruffles at the bottom. Good God, he really likes ruffles.

"You can wear this," Aoi said, tossing the dress to me. I stood there, awkward holding it, with a suspicious look on my face.

"What is it?" Aoi asked.

"I didn't see any of my clothing in your closet,"

"That's because they are somewhere you will never find them,"

"I hate you,"

"_Suuure_,"

I went into Aoi's bathroom, shut the door and began to change. The blue dress fell around my shoulders, making them feel cool and making me shiver. Aoi rapped on the door impatiently.

"Hurry up, a lady shouldn't ever take this long to change,"

"Who said I was a lady?" I muttered under my breath, "I'm a girl, not a lady,"

I shakily opened the door, revealing myself to the judging eyes of Aoi. He looked me over, the stepped closer.

"Just fix this," He said to himself, straightening the sleeves, "And you're good to go," He pulled out a camera, "We'll just take pictures in my house for now,"

I sighed, already feeling uncomfortable in this dress. How do I get myself into these situations?

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

"Now, tilt your head to the right- no, your right, there you go…" Aoi set the camera on a timer and quickly dove down placing his shoulder under my head, and tilting his head onto mine. He smiled cutely into the camera, while whispered to the side, "Smile, dammit,"

I tried to quirk my lips up, but all I got was a purse of the lips. I never got how I did that.

The camera snapped, and Aoi leapt up so fast that my head had nothing to lean onto-

"GHACK!"

And that's the story of my trip to the floor.

Aoi pouted when he looked at the camera, "_Ruuuth_, you're supposed to blush in this photo, it's cute, you're a girl, and you should at least blush while in a position like that!" He madly waved it around. I sat up, glaring at him.

"How can I blush when I don't even have a crush on you? I don't have any feelings for you, so for me it's just like touching another human being," I put my hands in the air like that explained everything.

Aoi's face grew even more red and he stomped his foot. I tried not to laugh at the picture; he looked just like a spoilt little girl now getting her way.

"You are the strangest girl I have ever met!" He yelled, "_Most_ girls will blush with contact from any guy- ah…" I cut him off before he said his realization.

"And _most_ girls prefer basketball to ball gowns?"

"Yeah, stupid question,"

Aoi picked up the camera, taking it off the stand, "Well, that's enough pictures for today, you can keep that dress, too," He waved his hand off. I rose an eyebrow.

"I really have to walk home in this?"

"No. That dress is too pretty to risk getting ruined. Change back into that purple one, and bring that one with you," He looked at me, smirking, "You will get a parcel of your clothing back for every five photos you take with me,"

My mouth moved southward, "B-But I have at least forty pairs of shorts! J-Just those a-alone would be two hundred photos!"

Aoi shook his head no, holding up the camera, "No, with the photos we took today, only about a hundred and ninety,"

I shakily reached up a pointed finger at him, "Y-Y-You devil!"

Aoi stuck his tongue out, "Mm-hm. It's sexy nowadays,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

** Author's note! I know, I really shouldn't be working on this when I have other stories, but the temptation was toooo muuuuch! I just had to! Aoi is awesome!**

**Review or I will not update, cause this is the only way I get feedback! Lol :D **


	2. Feverish

Chapter Two

PINAAATA!

Torture.

That is the only word I can use to describe my life.

My eyes darkened as I looked over the familiar contents of my closet. So. Many. Damn. Dresses. Of course, Aoi just has to rub it in by saying "I thought it would be nice to give you a choice,"

Oohhh he's gonna pay.

I smiled evilly at my plan, checking the grocery list for things to get after school:

_ One box of macaroni,_

_ 26 boxes of Poptarts,_

_ Three pairs of basketball shorts_

I looked at the dress I choose for the day. I sighed. At least he had the mercy of no pink.

The abomination of my picking today was blue, with a vest top and straight bottom, adorned with a criss-cross lace pattern flowing around the waistline. The bottom of it was bare, leaving no decoration on it. I only chose it because it seemed like the least painful to wear. It also had pockets.

As I slipped the dress on, I put the grocery list in the pocket (I have a horrible memory,) and slipped on the flats.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and smirked.

"Prepare for hell, Aoi,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

Let me give you a lesson, students.

Don't try to sneak into school.

Especially if someone knows where you are, live, and where your closet is.

Hint freakin hint.

"Ah~ The blue dress today, I see," Aoi walked out from behind a tree (Why can't he just stand there?) and leaned against the gate. I froze, and glared at him with all the might of hell and fury.

Diddly that did.

"When will you give up, Aoi?" I asked. He sighed and tutted.

"You know that's a stupid question, right?"

"Couldn't hurt,"

I stood up straighter and walked through. I always made sure to choose the east gate, because nobody ever walked through there. Plus, it was closer to my house, and everyone always went with the north.

I was about to get through the gates of hell until Satan himself stopped me.

"What?" I said to Aoi, who had a look of disbelief on his face.

"You…really?" He asked. I followed his gaze down towards my left arm, where a shiny blue ribbon was wrapped around it.

"What?" I asked again, "I thought this was how you were supposed to wear it,"

Aoi grunted in frustration and grabbed my arm, quickly unwrapping the ribbon.

"No sense as a woman," He said to himself, "Don't even know how to wear a ribbon correctly," This was one of those times when he looked pretty again. His lashes were long, his skin was soft, and his dark hair looked so silky. I could admire him. I could admire him as a work of art, something of beauty.

But that was my difference. I didn't –wasn't able to- let my hormones get in the way of observing beauty. When I saw someone pretty, I saw them as a walking Adonis, or a living-and-breathing Mona Lisa. This was why I didn't blush in Aoi's photo.

I simply saw him as art.

"Here," He said, holding the ribbon up to my neck, "This is where it goes,"

Aoi slowly wrapped the ribbon around my neck, not too tightly, finishing it off with a bow in the back. I instinctively reached up to touch it; it was perfectly done. This guy, as much as I hated to admit it, was good.

Not that he'd ever hear that, though.

"There we go," Aoi said.

One minute passed.

Another second passed.

I rose an eyebrow. Shouldn't he be taking his hands off by now? They weren't supposed to linger on my neck for this long….maybe he was just in one of those 'daze' moments. I get those a lot.

"Um…Aoi?" I said. He just stood there, until he started leaning closer. His hands enclosed the back of my neck, one tangling my short hair. I automatically started to slowly lean back. Aoi kept going forward, sliding one hand around my arm and waist, until his breath was on my lips:

"Aoi. Stop it. You don't know what you're doing," I said.

He snapped back in an instant.

"Whaaa…?" He said, still out of it. His face flushed. I glared at him.

"Pervert," I said.

"Uh…." He didn't even respond. Instead he just wobbled, then fell to the side, until I caught him.

"Aoi? Are you okay?" I asked. He was burning up, a red face, and he was visibly trying to hold back coughs.

"Hn…Get to school, Ruth," He said in his very Aoi-like tone. I let out an unamused, barking laugh.

"Screw school, you're sick! Don't worry, I remember the address for your home. I'll take you there,"

Aoi smiled as I hoisted him onto my back, "You're…strong…" He said, "Thank you,"

I smirked, "No problem,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

I quickly hopped up the stairs and into Aoi's bedroom, laying his flushed form on the sheets. I removed his jacket to reveal a white shirt underneath.

"God Aoi…and you're always calling me stupid," I placed a cool cloth on his forehead. He wheezed out breaths, but they evened in a moment, showing me that he was sleeping.

I smiled, "Good, you're asleep,"

This was yet another moment of his beauty. Even with a sick face, he was still gorgeous.

I couldn't help it. I reached for the paper from his printer, pulling out a sheet and stealing at pencil. Then I began to draw him. It was only a rough sketch, but I was satisfied with it either way. At least it captured his essence.

I chuckled to myself. We were both each other's models now.

I yawned as I continued sketching. I only barely managed to get the "By Ruth" in after writing Aoi's first and last name with an arrow pointing to him before I crashed on the floor, exaughsted. It had been a while since I carried someone up a _flight of freakin stairs_.

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

**Nobody P.O.V.**

Aoi slowly woke up after about an hour of being put down. He moaned as he rose, looking around. _This is my room, _he thought, _but who brought me he- oh jeez_,

He looked at the sprawled out form on the ground, where Ruth slept, snoring the day away.

"Ladies don't snore," Aoi said to himself. He smiled nonetheless and leaned his chin on his elbow, staring at her. _And men don't dress up in pink, either,_ he thought again, _God she's cute_.

"Mmm…octopus…yummy….octopus…" Ruth mumbled. Aoi had to suppress a loud bark of laughter. He didn't want to wake her up.

Ruth shifted, pushing a piece of paper into Aoi's point of view. He looked down towards it, seeing a drawing of him sleeping. His eyes grew wide.

Aoi snatched up the paper, running his sight over the precise lines and detail in the drawing, "She's…amazing…" He said to himself, "She drew this?"

He looked down where Ruth had written his name with an arrow pointing to his figure, and signed the drawing with hers. Aoi narrowed his eyes for a moment in confusion, then had to suppress another laughing fit.

Apparently Ruth didn't quite know how to write proper Japanese yet. Ruth had only written his last name, and miswrote his first name so much that it looked like 'Ruth'.

In other words, it looked like she had written 'Ruth Hyoudou'.

"You're not my wife, Ruth," Aoi said, smirking. He looked down at the sleeping girl, and reached a hand down to stroke her lips, "Yet,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

**Ruth P.O.V.**

I woke with a start, realizing that I had just fallen asleep in _my enemy's room_. I quickly looked around, knowing that I had to escape unless I wanted to be tortured and interrogated. The enemy would wake up, and wonder I was still there.

"Mmmm…" I heard a moan from my stomach. I looked down.

The enemy had woken. I repeat: THE ENEMY HAS WOKEN!

"Mmm…Oh, hey Ruth," Aoi said sleepily with his head on my stomach. I noticed that I was still lying down, but had a blanket draped over me and Aoi. Said Aoi was still laying there like he was freakin _queen_ of _Ruth's abdomen_ in the land of _It-don't-matter-cause-I'm-a-cross-dresser_.

"Aoi…" I said slowly, "Why are you sleeping there?"

Aoi looked down, and looked at me, like he did nothing wrong, "I don't know. I must have fallen out of bed,"

_Oh_ I'm about to murder this guy.

"And why is the blanket around us?"

"I must have been clutching onto it so tightly that it got dragged down too,"

I sighed, "If you say so,"

**Later On…**

I said goodbye to Aoi and went back to my house. Once inside, I sighed at the familiar feeling of cold air and was met with the sudden cravings for ramen.

"Raameeen," I said, and began walking over to the pantry, then stopped. "No, if you have ramen, it will give you gas tomorrow, and you can't play basketball. Bad Ruth,"

I trudged sadly to my bedroom, flopping on my bed and staring at the ceiling. My mind flashed back to when I first came to that school, and had to say my name.

"A last name is really hard to pick," I said to myself, "Wonder what it should be?"

I turned over on my side, and almost went to sleep, until-

_RIIIINNGGG!_

"Really?" I said, and got the phone. "Hello?"

"Ruth, it's me!"

"AOI? How did you get this number?"

"I got it when I snuck into your house and changed all your clothing. Might as well have, right?"

"…I won't even bother answering that, Whaddya want?"

There was a long pause, then his quiet voice answered,

"Yo- uh…heh…Many, many things. But that's not important. What's important is the fact that I think you're in danger,"

I froze. Danger. If he meant real danger, then I didn't know what I'd do. I started to smile.

Would I get to fight?

"Aaaand, what kind of danger?" I asked, trying not to sound happy. Aoi spoke again.

"There's a man who keeps walking around my house. When I went out there and asked him to stop it, he grabbed me by the shoulders and asked for you in really bad japanese. I-I have no idea what to do!"

My muscles tensed, and the smile grew on my face, "Did he look strong?"

"What?!"

"Don't misunderstand. Did he look like he could easily beat you up?"

"He looked like he could easily kill me,"

By now my grin was easily stretched to my ears. I would get a fight now. A damn good one. My muscles and veins were pulsing with excitement.

"Aoi…" I said.

"What?"

"Tell my cousin to get his butt over here,"

**Author's Note!**

** So, this chappie was a little rushed, but I'm not in the mood to care. At the moment I am tired yet still staying up. Please, please, please give me ideas! I already have a preview for you, so work from that:**

"So…let me get this straight….you're going to Australia?"

I nodded at Aoi, "Yep,"

"Why?!"

"It's the family business," I said as I loaded bullets into my machine gun. Aoi looked at me with worry.

"W-What's the family business?"

"Didn't you know?" I asked, "My father's a hit man,"


	3. Guns

Chapter Three

He's a WHAT?!

For the next couple of days, Aoi stuck awfully close to me. Every time I would walk at least a foot away from him, he'd jump in with a "HIIIIIIII Ruth, how's your day?" And the stupidest fake smile you had ever seen. It all started when (queue flashback)

_ "Tell my cousin to get his butt over here," I said into the phone. I tried not to laugh in amusement as Aoi made choking sounds._

_ "C-COUSIN?"_

_ "Yes, it's all true; now tell him where the hell my house is!"_

_ "S-Sure…" He hung up the phone. An hour later the door was slammed open by none other than my beautiful gorilla of a cousin. He burst in, saw me, and was there in .5 seconds._

_ "Ruth!" He yelled, scooping me up in the most deadly bear hug you could ever feel. I choked and spluttered in his ear,_

_ "Put. Me. Down. Or. You. Die,"_

_ He complied._

_ My cousin was a big, burly man (really my age, fourteen, but he looked in his twenties,) with brown hair that curled around his forehead and tan skin, which complimented his ice-blue eyes. I always wanted his eyes. Mine were brown, the dullest brown ever, so I could tend to get a little jealous._

_ "I missed you!" I yelled, hugging him in a gentler way. He looked at me in concern after I pulled back._

_ "You know weird girl-boy?" He asked. Yes. I forgot to mention that he was Russian. He didn't speak much English, "Weird girl-boy call you when I ask him for directions,"_

_ I laughed, patting his shoulder, "It's okay. That weird girl-boy is Aoi. I kinda work for him," At this my cousin's eyebrows shot up, "Girl-boy is boss? How? Girl-boy must only be one four!" He meant fourteen. He was REALLY bad at English._

_ I tried to drape a consoling arm around him, "Dimitri, calm down, it's only for a short time,"_

_ Dimitri looked skeptical, "What work you do?"_

_ I froze and sheepishly avoided his gaze. Dimitri looked harder into my eyes, his piercing blue orbs sucking the truth right out of me._

_ "Fine!" I yelled, "He has me model for him, okay?"_

_ "WHAT? COUSIN NO MODEL FOR GIRL-BOY! ME NOT SURE WHAT GIRL-BOY IS!" He flailed his arms. The sight was so funny that I had to burst out laughing._

_ "Ha! Just go to bed, you big worry wart. You can walk me to school tomorrow,"_

End Flashback.

"Oh!" Aoi yelled as he noticed me trying to escape again, "Hello R…" He gulped when he saw Dimitri standing over me, "Ruth,"

Shrugging it off Aoi looked at me, smiling, "Whaddya say we take pictures in the park today? I'll have Yukimura and Kanou, so we don't have to do anything but look pretty," He actually winked at this.

I made a barfing sign, "No way am I going out there in public. You make me look like a frigging doll!" I tried not to yell, but it was oh so hard…

Aoi pursed his lips, "That's kinda the point,"

"Somewhere else, Aoi?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Not gonna ha-" He looked at the scary shadow of Dimitri.

"Girl-Boy," He said, "Me still not know what you are. Go to different place with cousin,"

Aoi tried to look strong, "W-W-What if I don't want to?"

"Then Boy-Girl becomes all Girl,"

Aoi gulped, "U-uh,"

My cell phone started ringing when he was about to say something else. Good thing, he wasn't doing too well at this rate.

"Hello?" I asked. The voice on the phone responded.

"Ruth? This is Ruth, right?"

"Who else would it be, Dad?"

"Y-Your mother isn't with you, is she?"

"No, Dad, you can act brave now,"

"Right! Ruth, we've got another assignment,"

My face lit up like a Christmas tree. Fighting?

"Really?" I asked like a little kid, ignoring Aoi's and Dimitri's strange looks, "Where? Where?"

He cleared his throat on the other side, "In Australia,"

I pumped my fists despite who was looking, and shouted "AWWW YEAAAAHH!"

"Well? Are you coming?"

"What did I just do?"

"True. Be at your home in three hours. Charles and Dimitri will bring you to the helicopter,"

"We get to take the helicopter this time?"

"Yes, Ruth,"

"HALLELUJAH!"

"I'm hanging up, Ruth,"

I had a bright smile on instantly, "Bye-bye Daddy,"

I shut the phone and turned to Aoi, who was looking at me as if he had just seen an alien land while eating pop tarts and singing like Lady Gaga.

"What…was that?" He finally said.

I sighed happily, already walking out of the school gates in my pink dress that Aoi made for me, "Sorry, I've gotta go," I said. I was almost out of the gates when Aoi's hand clamped on my shoulder.

"And _where_ would that be?"

"You don't wanna know," I left it at that and continued walking, but Aoi jumped in front of me.

"Oh, but I do," He smiled evilly, tilting up my chin, "Unless you want me to burn those clothes of yours early, I might add,"

I glared at him. He looked like pure evil to me at the moment.

"Fine. I'm leaving the country for a short while,"

"WHAT?"

"I told you, you didn't wanna know,"

I walked on past Aoi, but stopped again when I heard him ask,

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long until you get back?"

"Uh…" I thought for a minute. How long were Dad's usual jobs? "Hmm….about a month I guess,"

Aoi chuckled.

"Fine then. Turn around,"

I complied, and was met with Aoi roughly kissing my cheeks, both of them, "Be glad. If it were longer, it wouldn't just be your cheeks," He said, licking his lips. I froze, glared at him, and stomped away.

"Let me walk you home at least!" He said, chasing after me. When he caught up I turned my head away from him.

"I will never show my face to you again," I said. Aoi laughed.

"Oh, but you will," He chuckled, "Many, many times,"

OOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOO

The minute I reached my house I threw open the doors, and immediately went to the pantry.

"You're hungry now?" Aoi asked, "I thought you said you had to leave the country soon,"

I replied to him without turning my head, "I'm not hungry, I'm looking for something-Ah! Found it!"

I pulled out my camo shorts and tank top. Aoi's eyes went wide.

"B-B-But I thought I got all of your clothing!" He pointed at it like it was the Devil Incarnate. I shrugged innocently, and quickly rushed to the bathroom like Flash on crack to put it on.

I slipped off the dress, and tugged on the bulletproof vest and cargo pants. Aoi pounded on the door as I dressed. I frowned at the doorway. He just wouldn't leave me alone, would he?

"Ruth!" He called, "Just tell me where you're going! You do realize that if you don't, I'll call you every day, non-stop?"

I sighed, and calmly opened the door, only to meet mister I-crossdress-like-a-boss standing in front of me, the all-powerful Miss-thang with his hands on his hips.

"Aoi…" I started, "Nice try. Phones don't work where I'm going,"

"And where is that?"

I lowered my head. Might as well get it over with…

"Australia,"

It took almost a minute for that to process into Aoi's mind. His eyes were normal, then big, then bigger, then they were the size of Dimitri's muscles.

That's pretty dang big.

"Eh….uh…"

I put a hand on his shoulder, with a serious look on my face, "Aoi, the helicopter will be here at any minute, so please, put your words into earthling speech. I don't understand the dialect of your home planet,"

"So…let me get this straight…you're going to Australia?"

I nodded at Aoi, "Yep,"

"Why?!"

"It's the family business," I said as I loaded bullets into my machine gun.

"W-What's the family business?"

"Didn't you know?" I said, "My father's a hitman,"

I left Aoi in his stunned silence as I heard the sound of the helicopter on the roof.

"See ya!"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

"You ready to go, Dimitri?" I called through the loud noise of the engine. He gave me a thumbs-up sign. Charles, my other cousin and Dimitri's brother, sat next to me as the helicopter took off. Australia here I come!

I could barely make out Aoi's waving figure on the ground below. He looked like a really pretty ant.

"Soooo," Charles drawled out in his slight Russian accent, "Who is the boy?" He was older than Dimitri by two years, so he knew English better.

"Just a…friend," I said. I felt it appropriate to call Aoi that. Charles nodded, smirking.

"And what was the monstrosity you were wearing earlier?"

"Don't. Mention. It,"

"Ahhh. Noted,"

Charles put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me so close that I could smell the scent of the woods on him.

"Little Ruth's growing up, eh? Wait! Does that mean…" He looked me in the eyes putting a hand to my forehead, "You've gotten over your 'condition'?"

I looked down, my happy mood gone, "No. It's nothing like that. All Aoi is, is a friend,"

Charles nodded slowly "Well, we can always hope, right?"

"…Right,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

Later on in the mission…

"Ruth, is he in your sights?"

"Yes. Now shut up, you're too loud,"

I put the walki-talkie back in my pocket, and aimed my sniper at the head several yards away. I know what you're thinking. No, I was not going to kill him. My job in the business was simply to scare them off, and hope that they didn't make their same mistakes. My father is the real hit-man.

And no, my father isn't some kind of serial killer. He only takes down the people who are just pure evil. He has Charles run a background check on the people we are called in for, and if he thinks that the things they did were extremely bad, bam.

Trust me, I almost came close to murder when people misjudged my father.

"Aim the shot, Ruth,"

"Shh!"

My sniper was lined up next to the man's head.

Bam.

Everyone scattered, leaving the room empty.

"The job's done,"

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOO

My father came into the room after a couple of hours, smiling tiredly at me.

"Good job, sweetie," He said, ruffling my hair. I smiled back at him.

"Didja get him?"

"Yep,"

He looked almost sad for a moment, so I creased my eyebrows, worrying for him, "What's wrong?"

"Ruth, you know I should have never dragged you into this business in the first place. It's just, you looked so happy when I taught you how to shoot, and I know you love to fight for justice, or just fight, really," He sheepishly scratched his head. I resisted the urge to facepalm. I knew where this was going.

"But," he continued, "I think it's time you start separating yourself from all of this. We all know it was because of this business, that you got your…condition,"

I sighed, glaring at him lightly, "Dad, know this: I honestly enjoy these missions, for the fact that I know I'm making the world rid of one more idiot. And my condition has nothing to do with this, and, if anything, it makes this job much, much easier. You've seen all those movies?"

Dad nodded, smiling once more, "Okay, princess," He ruffled my hair again.

I grinned, cleaning my gun and readjusting my headband. Dad's voice came out from behind me,

"So, I hear there's a new boy in your life?"

"CHARLES!"

** Author's note! I'd like to that aristicadri1999, Excel Fusion, Mindblower, and all the others that gave me support! (Yep, that was cheesy) Btw, read my new story, Pardon Me, But What the Hell Are You? set in the world of Black Butler ;D Review, or no update! (That's becoming my catch phrase,)**


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